The present invention relates to cabinets and pertains particularly to a universal electronic video game cabinet having a means for providing quick change of the electronic game and the identifying display information related thereto.
Electronic video games wherein one or more players play either against each other or against the machine have become quite popular and come into wide spread use in recent years. Such games permit quite versatile programming and can provide realistic graphic display as well as sound effects. Such games have been found to have a great deal of educational and training value in that they aid in the development of coordination skills, as well as planning and strategy skills.
Complete electronic video game units are normally mounted within a cabinet having a height that permits the player to stand and manipulate controls while viewing the video display on a cathode ray tube. The game program is normally embodied within one or more chips or electronic cards that is mounted within the cabinet. The entire cabinets and game assemblies are normally mounted within cabinets at the factory and access for repair of the electronics or other components within the cabinet are normally provided by an access door or removably panel in the rear of the cabinet. This has the disadvantage that should a machine break down, it must be removed from its normal position against the wall in a game room to permit access to the access door for repair or replacement of components therein. Quite frequently, due to the inconvenience and the problem of and difficulty of replacement of parts, the entire machine is returned to the factory or a repair facility for maintenance and repair. This is expensive for the game room operator because of the necessary down time of the machine.
Another disadvantage of the conventional cabinets is that thieves, while gaining access to the cash box, quite frequently damage the electronic components of the machine. This requires shipment of the machine to the factory for repair or replacement.
Another disadvantage of such machines is that as players become skilled at playing the game and can attain high scores, he either loses interest in that game or plays it for hours at a time on a single coin. Moreover, players become rapidly bored with playing the same game and desire quite a variety of games. Such games, therefore, have a relatively short life and are quickly abandoned by the public in favor of newer games. This forces the game room operator to trade-in the old machine for machines having the new game or in the alternative, ship the machine to the factory for converting to the latest games. The down time, as a result of the aforementioned problems, can be quite costly to the game room operator.
Accordingly, it is desirable that a game cabinet be available which reduces or eliminates that above problems of the prior art machines by providing a construction that permits quick and easy access to the components therein for replacement or repair.